Venice, a city in northeast Italy sited on a group of 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges! A city renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks! A city in its entirety listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO! Wow! After reading all of these facts written on a brochure, I just couldn't wait to arrive and see all of it by myself!

I knew that we were fast approaching Venice’s group of small islands when we crossed over a very large lagoon driving on the Ponte della Liberta causeway! You see, this bridge being 4km long was the only connection from the mainland to the islands. Looking outside the bus’s window, men could be seen maneuvering expertly gondolas with high wooden sticks and dressed in their traditional costumes! The gondolas were my second clues! Ha, ha, ha!

Once on the other side of this causeway, we were at the Piazzale Roma, a large square which served as a bus terminus or parking lot for cars. This was the only bit of Venice accessible by car the rest of the way had to be taken by boat!

A private water bus was boarded and then my journey into Venice started as we cruised on the lagoon heading towards the center of this water floating city and to the Piazza San Marco. In a way, it was here that reality really sank in, that I was actually here in person in Venice cruising on its canals! I could have yelled with joy….but of course, I didn’t!

I sat at the back of the boat and right near the exit door. This allowed me to have all the open space required to take pictures along the route and let me tell you, I wasn’t deceived. Upon arriving to the islands, smaller canals started to appear on both sides of the Grand Canal as well as many smaller bridges. This was the colorful Venice that I had seen so often in pictures and that I was now living my dream by being and seeing it in person! Wow!

We disembarked the motor bus along the Grand Canal and then walked a very short distance way up to our hotel, the Carlton on the Grand Canal! Just like its name said, we were on the Grand Canal! I couldn’t be any happier; I had Venice all to myself for the next few days to explore and to discover its beauty.

Keys to our rooms were given. Ours was on the second floor facing the hotel’s side courtyard. Not a great view but then, the room was only to sleep in at night! Right! Since we had some time on our own before our evening’s excursion, Michel and I went out for a walk on the pavements along the canals as well as narrow side alleys! We were exploring all by ourselves the hotel’s fabulous surroundings!